Thobeka Ngema|Published
As Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana prepares to deliver the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) today, frontline civil society organisations and gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) advocates are making an urgent plea to the National Treasury to ring-fence dedicated funding for violence prevention and survivor support.
This comes after Acting Police Minister Professor Firoz Cachalia revealed that during the 2025/26 period, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) registered 5 259 total cases—including 332 GBVF cases, 116 officer-related rapes, and 24 murders—while securing 84 criminal convictions (26 GBVF-related). KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest GBVF cases (60), and officer-committed rapes rose from 95 in 2024/2025 to 116 in 2025/2026, with 44 committed by off-duty officers and 72 by on-duty officers.
Cachalia also recently reported that 50 511 GBVF cases were reported to the South African Police Service (SAPS) during the 2025/2026 financial year, with 30 736 resulting in arrests or referrals to the National Prosecuting Authority.
Father A Nation (non-profit company) founder and CEO Craig Wilkinson called on Treasury to ring-fence funding for prevention in today’s MTBPS.
“Because boys become the men they see, South Africa must implement a proactive, properly funded and well-staffed programme to tackle the mindsets of the men who perpetrate GBVF. Men should be taught how to speak up, rather than just be told to speak up,” Wilkinson said.
He said that while funds were available during the Covid-19 pandemic, the same level of commitment and resources must apply now to make South Africa safe for girls and women.
Wilkinson suggested a plan for the government to adopt, with the first point being to allocate dedicated funding to the prevention pillar of the National Strategic Plan on GBVF, starting with the MTBPS.
National Shelter Movement of South Africa (NSMSA) board member Greer Schoeman said South Africa loses billions through the human, social and economic consequences of GBVF. Inadequate investment in prevention and response therefore carries a very real economic cost.
Schoeman shared that from their experience as civil society actors working on the frontline, the conditions under which services are delivered have become harder. Staff are stretched and underpaid. Organisations are constantly required to find ways of filling funding gaps, while communities are continually asked to contribute more.
“We would welcome large funding announcements, but the measure cannot simply be the size of the announcement. Funding must be transparent and traceable from allocation through to implementation, service delivery and outcomes for survivors,” Schoeman said.
GBVF Response Fund board chairperson Faith Khanyile said the full extent of the funding gap is still to be quantified, but we believe a meaningful starting point would be a dedicated allocation of R3 billion over the next three years.
“How that funding is allocated matters as much as the amount. We propose that half be directed to the government departments most critical to the GBVF response, particularly the Justice and Health clusters. This would help clear the DNA backlog, address safety concerns, strengthen and properly resource Thuthuzela Care Centres, and upskill and train police officers,” Khanyile said.
thobeka.ngema@nationalmg.co.za